Loyalty
by rikuharmony
Summary: It seemed that it was only seconds ago that the Elements of Harmony were defending the world of Equestria against the greatest evil that it has ever faced. The evil masterminds of Equestria have banned together in order to destroy the elements and their holders. In order to evade their defeat, the elements were spread out through space and time. U/RD
1. Hooves?

Rainbow Dash awoke in a deep sweat.

"What?" She exclaimed, rising form a small twin-sized bed. "Where am I?" She said, looking at her surroundings. She got up, balancing herself on two legs. As she steadied herself, she noticed that she no longer had the hooves that she had grown up with, but instead her hooves had turned to hands. Hands were something that she had never even seen before, Twilight Sparkle had showed the group models of them, but she had never before had them attached to her own body. She noticed that her pale blue complexion had turned surprisingly pale. Her skin was now a tan color.

She jumped as she heard a loud knock at the door that was behind her. She walked over to the desk on the other side of the room that was at a wall with two large windows. There was something sitting on the otherwise barren desk. She picked up a small card with what seemed to be her picture on it. It wasn't her in her normal form, but she had a feeling that the picture on the card was definitely her.

"Miss. Sentil?" A voice boomed from behind the door. _Sentil?_ She thought, looking back to the card. Not only did the card have her picture, but it also had a name on it. Bowe Sentil. She shoved the card in her pocket as the door on the other side of the room opened to reveal a large man in a red sweatshirt with a white headband. "Miss. Sentil, I assume you're feeling better? Principal Delmas would like to see you now." The man said, stepping back outside the room. "Oh, I'm Mr. Jim Morales, just in case you forgot." The man smiled.

While in the principal's office, Rainbow Dash discovered that in this world, which she assumed that she was sent to by the group of evil masterminds of all pony kind; her name was Bowe Sentil as the card said. She was now a student at Kadic Academy, which was apparently a boarding school. This school was nothing like the one room school room that she had been taught in, but she realized that this was another universe. She had to learn more about this universe. She had to find a way back to Equestria.

Ulrich Stern took his usual seat by the window. Odd Della Robia, his best friend and roommate sat next to him. Ulrich was staring out the window like he always did, thinking the average thoughts that a boy his age might. Most of his time was taken up thinking about one girl, one that had always been special to him. The one girl he had always liked, the girl he thought he loved. His other best friend, Yumi Ishiyama. Ulrich's thought was cut short by Mrs. Hertz making an announcement to the class.

It seemed that there was a new girl at Kadic. Jeremy Belpois and Aelita Stone were sitting in the front of the classroom as usual. The girl's eyes were steadied at her white shoes that were stationary on the floor below her. Mrs. Hertz told the girl to take an open seat in the class. Unknowingly, she took a seat next to Sissy Delmas, the principal's daughter.

Odd snapped Ulrich out of his daze. He had been staring out the window the entire time. Neither had said a word about the new girl, but Sissy wasn't going to wait for anyone else to say anything. She turned around to Herve and Nicolas who were sitting behind her. She pointed to the new girl's hair, which was dyed all sorts of rainbow colors. Her curls were colorful and tight. Her face was fair and flawless. However, Sissy wasn't about to let this new girl steal her spotlight.

Sissy had gone on and on about the new girl, pointing out her imperfections as she spotted them. The entire class was laughing as the oblivious Mrs. Hertz continued to teach the class. The girl was silent. Odd turned to Ulrich, who was once again staring out the window and up at the blue sky. Sometimes he wished he could be up there instead of being bound to the earth. Odd poked the boy, who in turn just looked at him. "What is it?" Ulrich whispered, turning back to face the window. "It's the new girl. Sissy won't stop messing with her!" Odd whispered back, pointing to Sissy's desk.

"So?" Ulrich barked quietly. He looked down at the blank notebook paper that he was supposed to be taking notes on and then back to Odd. "We can't just let her do that!" Odd quietly exclaimed. He had had enough of Sissy making fun of the new girl. Odd knew how that felt, being the new kid in town.

The bell finally rang. It hadn't come soon enough for Rainbow Dash. She had sat there while the girl next to her had pointed out everything that was wrong with her. It wasn't her fault; she wasn't supposed to be in this universe anyway. No one had bothered to stick up for her anyway, so maybe this was normal in this world.

She saw a short blonde haired boy walking towards her. She turned the other way and started to walk faster. Odd sped up. "Hey, wait up!" He screamed down the hallway. She stopped. It was the first time that someone had actually tried to talk to her besides the principal, who was the one who sent her to sit in that room anyway. "What's your name?" Odd asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at his hand and then back to his face. She wasn't sure what to say; was she supposed to tell him her real name, Rainbow Dash, or the name that she was supposed to go by in this universe.

"Bowe." She said shyly. She took a deep breath and clenched her fist. This was not the way Rainbow Dash was used to acting. This was nothing like what she normally was. She turned to the boy and smiled. Ulrich was standing a couple feet away from the two and motioned for Odd to come over to him. "Well, I'll see you later, Bowe." Odd said walking away. "Wait!" She exclaimed. "What's your name?" She laughed. "Odd! Odd Della Robia!" He smiled, walking away with his best friend.

Rainbow Dash watched the boys as they walked away. Odd was nice, it seemed. He was the nicest person that she had met since she woke up in this strange world.

"I don't see why you're being so nice to that girl." Jeremy Belpois said as he sat down at their group's typical spot in the school yard. "I don't see why you guys are being so mean to her! What did she ever do to you?" Odd defended the girl he had just met in Mrs. Hertz's class. "If she can't even stand up for herself, then why should we even bother?" Ulrich said, watching for Yumi. He smiled as she turned the corner, becoming visible to the love-struck boy. "Last time I checked, we all met when I was new here. If I hadn't met you guys, I probably would've been just as awkward as she is now." Odd said, standing up to face the group.

"What's all this about?" Yumi asked, taking her seat next to Ulrich. "Some new girl that has got Odd all strung out." Aelita laughed. "You know, you guys should get to know her; I mean I haven't gotten to yet, but I'm sure she's really nice." He said, walking over to the vending machine. As he was waiting for his snack to fall from the machine, Rainbow Dash walked up behind him.

"Odd?" She asked, smiling. "That's your name, right?" She continued. Odd turned around to face the girl and smiled. He nodded. "Your name is Bowe, right? Like rain-Bowe?" He laughed. She nodded as well and smiled. "So is that girl always that mean?" She asked, watching Odd pick up a candy bar out of the machine. "Yeah, that's Sissy. She's always like that. I'm sorry no one stuck up for you." Odd said, motioning for her to take a piece of his candy bar. She shook her head and looked over to where Odd's friends were sitting.

"They don't like me, do they?" She asked, looking at them. "Don't worry about them! They'll come around. C'mon, I'll introduce you!" Odd said, pulling her over to the group.

"Hey." Rainbow Dash said shyly. "I mean… hey!" She said, trying to act cool. A scream was heard in the background. The group as well as Rainbow Dash turned to face the direction where they had heard the scream. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as a large sphere rolled towards them. "Run!" Jeremy screamed, pulling Aelita towards the doors of the school. Odd and Yumi soon followed. Rainbow Dash was stuck, right where she was. Ulrich was behind Odd and Yumi as he turned back to see the girl standing right before the sphere.

"Didn't you hear him say 'run'?" Ulrich asked, grabbing her arm and running towards the woods on the other side of the campus. They ran for a while before stopping at the groundskeeper's shed. Ulrich opened the door and shoved the still shocked girl inside. As he closed the door behind him, he placed his hands on his knees and breathed in deeply. Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at the boy. "What? Oh. Thanks!" She said smiling. Ulrich didn't look amused. "You could have died!" He said jumping up to the window. The spheres seemed to not have followed them. "Who are you, anyway?" He asked, sitting down at the door.

"It's Bowe." She said, leaning up against the wall. Ulrich snickered. She looked at the boy with a death stare. "Sorry. I'm Ulrich by the way." He said, standing back up. "What are those things?" She asked. "It's hard to explain." Ulrich said, walking over towards the side of the shed where the tools were kept. He tossed her a large hoe. "You're going to need this." He said, grabbing a large rake.

"Where's Ulrich?" Odd asked, turning around. They had made it to the secret passageway inside of the school that lead to the sewers. "Where could he be?" Yumi asked, crossing her arms. "We don't have time to look for him. This is definitely Xana." Jeremy said, opening the large red door. "You don't say." Yumi snapped. "Did you get that idea when you saw the giant tanks rolling through campus?" Yumi once again snapped. "No need to be like that." Odd said staring. She uncrossed her arms and followed the group into the sewers.

"I see one." Rainbow Dash said, climbing down from where the window was. She missed her wings. "Of course." Ulrich said, grabbing the gardening tools off the ground. "I sure hope you can fight." He said looking at the scrawny girl. She nodded. "Of course I can." She lied. She followed the boy through the door. He slashed the outside of what seemed to be metal sphere. As it opened up, it revealed Xana's symbol. Rainbow Dash attempted to do the same, but the sphere almost rolled right over her while attempting to get to Ulrich. "Great." Ulrich sneered as he saw a familiar face walking towards him. A boy approached wearing a black jump suit with the same symbol across his chest. "Long time no see, William." He said, slashing at the boy. The boy didn't say anything, but instead turned to a puff of smoke and appeared behind Ulrich. With a large slash, the boy let out a loud shriek.

Ulrich fell to the ground in pain. Rainbow Dash ran towards the boy who was standing over Ulrich. With a swift kick to the back of the head, the boy disappeared. She rushed to Ulrich's side and dragged him back into the shed.

Jeremy dialed Ulrich's phone for the fourth time; still no answer. "Where is he?" Jeremy asked, picking at the keys of his keyboard.

"Well, any luck finding that tower?" He asked, waiting for a response. "Not yet, Einstein." Odd said back, hovering over the ground on his Overboard. Odd, Yumi, and Aelita had been all over the sectors, but still had no luck finding an activated tower. "We haven't checked Sector Five yet." Aelita said, waiting for Jeremy's response. "Of course! That must be why Aelita hasn't felt any pulsations." He said, typing in another code on the super computer. "I'm entering the code to get you to Sector Five." He said, pushing down on the enter button.

Ulrich had finally woken back up. His head was resting on her lap. He jumped up, looking for William. "He disappeared, just so you know." She said, standing up. "Oh." Ulrich said, falling against the wall. "You're hurt." Rainbow Dash said, forcing him to sit back down. "Now we wait." Ulrich said, crossing his arms. "And I hate waiting." He sneered, turning away from the multi colored haired girl.

"Jeremy, we've found it!" Aelita exclaimed, approaching the tower. She stopped dead as soon as she saw Xana's monsters guarding the tower. "Odd, Yumi, how are we going to do this?" She asked, pointing at the line of Bloks.

"Umm, Ulrich!" Rainbow Dash screamed as William approached the two. Using some form of power, he pushed the door aside without even touching it. Rainbow Dash gasped and covered her eyes. She heard the clatter of metal in front of her. "Ulrich!" She screamed. Rainbow Dash's eyes lighted up with fury. She leapt up and gave another swift kick to William's face, who was too busy focusing on Ulrich to notice the small girl behind him.

"Get out!" Ulrich commanded as William flew across the room. "And let him kill you? How about no." She smiled slyly. William stood back up and looked even angrier than before. He took his large blade and attempted to slash Ulrich in half. Rainbow Dash quickly kicked the blade away and anchored it beneath her feet. "Are you just going to sit there, or run?" She asked as Ulrich just sat there. He knew that it was just about time.

Aelita was entering the tower. Odd and Yumi had been devirtualized, but it was safe in the tower. She had been surprised that she hadn't seen William. She was now about to reach the top of the tower where she was to input the code, Lyoko.

William stopped attacking and disappeared. Rainbow Dash fell to the ground next to Ulrich. "Sorry about being so rude to you." Ulrich said, wrapping his arm around the part of him that was throbbing. "Too bad though." He said, looking up. "Why is that?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at the boy. "You won't remember any of this." He said as they were both absorbed into a large white light.

The group was once again sitting at their typical spot in the yard. "Ulrich!" Yumi said running into her arms. Odd was standing over with Bowe. She stepped aside from Odd, who was left standing there. She walked up to Ulrich and pulled him aside, which aggravated Yumi. "Umm, hi?" He said as she pushed him into the lunch room, which was vacant besides for the two. "Ulrich? I thought you said that I wouldn't remember?" She said, staring into the boy's eyes, who were even more confused than she was.


	2. Virtualization

Ulrich was in complete shock. How had the return to the past program not worked? It had always worked before… All that Ulrich knew was that Bowe had completely saved his butt from William. Without her being there, who knows what would've happened to him.

"Well, Ulrich?" Bowe said crossing her arms. Ulrich took a deep breath. She began to tap her foot against the tile of the empty lunch room. "Do you really want to know?" He said turning around. She nodded. "Yes. I really do. Maybe I can help, somehow." She said, waiting for his response. "Well… here we go." He said, beginning the long story of Xana and the super computer.

Bowe shook her head with every word. This wasn't something she quite understood, but it sure made a lot more sense than everything else in this world so far. She had no idea what a super computer was, or even a regular computer. All she knew was what Ulrich had told her. "You can't tell anyone." Ulrich said, putting his forehead in his lap. "You can trust me." She said putting her hand on his shoulder. "But what is this factory you keep talking about?" She asked, looking around.

Ulrich knew that the group wouldn't be to the factory until tonight. They never came to the factory right after an attack. This was his chance to show Bowe everything. Sure, he wasn't particularly happy about telling her everything, but something inside compelled him to go into great detail about everything he had learned so far.

As they climbed the ladder from the sewer to the bridge of the factory, Bowe's eyes widened. He had been telling the complete truth this entire time. Sure, she had believed stranger things; she was actually a Pegasus after all. She had fought many battles before, but never one with an enemy as pure of an evil as that boy she had fought in the shed. Ulrich pressed a giant red button that made the elevator move towards the lab. "Do you believe me now?" He asked, semi smiling. It felt good to actually tell someone about what had been happening.

"So this is the super computer?" She asked, sitting down at the chair in front of it. "I'll be careful, don't worry." She said putting her hands in her lap. She had no idea what it was, but it had to be of some importance if they were defending it with their lives. Ulrich put his hand on the arm of the chair. "Would you like to see the scanners?" He asked, fully smiling. He had never actually shown someone the lab or the scanner room; it had always been someone else who seemed to know everything about them. He was never the one that was explaining things.

Odd didn't know what had been up with Bowe. She had talked to him before the return to the past, but now she was nowhere to be found, and neither was Ulrich. As soon as the two left, Yumi had stormed off, probably to go blow off some steam at the gym. Jeremy and Aelita had hurried to Jeremy's room to finish some homework. Odd was left in the corner where the snack machines were, munching on a candy bar.

Ulrich finally stepped into the room. Odd was lying on the bed with Kiwi on his stomach. "Where were you?" He snapped bitterly. "With Bowe, we umm… we took a walk in the park." He choked out. He hadn't lied; they had taken a short walk in the park on their way back to Kadic. Ulrich had walked her to her room before returning to his. Odd knew that. He had heard them talking out in the hallway. He knew his best friend's laugh anywhere. "Yumi was upset." Odd spat. Ulrich's eyes became wide as he turned to Odd. He had forgotten completely that he had left Yumi standing there and walked off with Bowe.

"I am such an idiot!" Ulrich said lying down on his bed, shoving his face into his pillow. "Finally, something we can agree on." Odd laughed. "And why are you being so rude?" Ulrich snapped, pulling his face out from the pillow. "If you didn't see, I was trying to get to know the new girl. She's really something, you know." Odd said, picking up a set of colored pencils and his sketchpad. Ulrich shook his head; Odd was right. She really was something. They had never quite met a girl like her.

"You like her, don't you." Odd said, breaking the silence. "What? No. I'm dating Yumi… I mean, I like Yumi." He said, making loops in his words. "You can still like someone and have a crush on someone else." Odd laughed. "How about you, Odd?" Ulrich asked. Odd shook his head no. "Sure, it crossed my mind; she's not my type." He said, picking up a different color. "So what if I did have a crush on her? I like Yumi way too much for anything like that anyway." He sighed. "Well you and Yumi have been chasing circles around each other for over a year now, if something was going to happen, don't you think it would've by now?" Odd said, creating a silence in the room. Ulrich had never thought about it like that before; Odd was right. One second Ulrich would be chasing after Yumi, and the next when he had finally started liking someone else, she came running back just to tell him never mind.

The silence was broken by the breaking of Odd's colored pencil tip. "So what's it going to be?" Odd smiled, looking at his roommate. "I know you pretty well, Ulrich. But I truly have no idea on this one." He laughed. Ulrich looked at the smaller boy. "I don't know. Maybe I just need to stop focusing on girls and start focusing on my schoolwork and stuff." He said, lying back down. As he looked up at the ceiling, he thought to himself. Yeah, he thought. Stuff.

Rainbow Dash stared at herself in the mirror. "You're so different." She said to herself. She frowned as she looked back at herself. "Rainbow Dash, yeah right." She sighed. Her name was Bowe. Maybe, just maybe, that was who she really was. She had never felt as happy as she did when Ulrich was showing her around the lab. Sure, her Ponyville friends had always stuck by her side, but no one had ever made her feel the way she felt around Ulrich and Odd. She turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on her face. This was her now, she thought. She ought to get used to it.

"I can't believe you, Ulrich!" Jeremy screamed as he sat in front of the super computer, accompanied by Aelita and Yumi. "I can't believe he brought her to the lab." Aelita said, looking to Yumi. Yumi was too upset to even speak. Her Ulrich had brought another girl to the lab? Sure, they might have expected this from Odd, but never Ulrich. This was the final straw.

"What?! You can't just, kick me out!" Ulrich pleaded as the group started walking away. "Well, you should've thought about that before you brought that girl to the lab." Jeremy screamed, walking away. Aelita and Yumi were silent as the two boys finished their conversation. Aelita quickly followed Jeremy. Yumi just stared at Ulrich. "Come on." Odd said, pulling Yumi away. A tear formed in her eye as she walked away. As the group walked away, Bowe approached. "Hey, Ulrich." She smiled. Ulrich walked right past her as if she hadn't even been there. Her eyes widened as the boy walked away without saying a word.

A few days had gone by, without as little as a word from Ulrich. Bowe began to worry.

Jeremy heard a knock at his door. Aelita had just walked out with Yumi and Odd, so he didn't expect it to be them. As he answered the door, his glasses fell down his face. "Oh, it's you." He said flatly as he saw the rainbow haired girl on the other side of the door frame. "It's my fault that Ulrich's not talking to anyone, isn't it." Bowe asked, sitting down on Jeremy's bed. "He should have thought about that before he shared our secret with someone that he just met. No offense." He said, looking at the girl.

The computer alarm went off. Jeremy stared at the computer screen. "Xana?" Bowe asked. Jeremy nodded, surprised by how much she actually remembered. Jeremy picked up his phone and dialed Aelita's number. No answer. He tried the same with Yumi and Odd's, with still no answer. "I can't believe it!" Jeremy said, not even getting an answer from Ulrich's phone; but then again, he was probably sulking like he normally did when they all had a fight.

Aelita had no idea where she was. "Jeremy?" She screamed. "Jeremy!" She screamed once again, beginning to panic. Yumi and Odd were stuck. They had no idea where, all they knew was that they were undoubtedly stuck. "Yumi, Odd?" A voice came from above. "Ulrich?" They both said in unison. The boy was falling from above. As he hit the ground, he looked at the other two who were also sitting there. They were surrounded by grey walls. All they saw above them was white, and below them was just solid grey.

"We have to get to the lab, maybe they're already there." Jeremy said, standing up from his computer chair. "Please, let me go with you." Bowe begged. Jeremy nodded, no matter how bad he didn't want to let her come; he knew that he really had no other choice. She smiled. "Thank you, Jeremy, you won't regret it." Bowe smiled. "I sure hope not." He said, closing the door behind them.

"They're not here!" Jeremy said making a fist. He tried their phones again, still with no answer. "Jeremy, I have an idea; but you're not going to like it." Bowe said looking at the elevator. Jeremy looked down and closed his eyes. "Get ready." He said, not moving his head. He hadn't opened his eyes before he heard her voice from the scanner room. "I'm ready, Jeremy." She said from inside a scanner cabin.

"Transfer, Bowe. Scanner, Bowe; Virtualization!" Jeremy said, waiting to see if it would actually work.

Light engulfed Bowe. As she became digitalized, she looked at the new body she was in now. She wore a pair of bright blue gloves and had a pair of rainbow legwarmers. Her curly hair became strait and long. To her surprise, she had a pair of bright blue wings that matched her gloves. As she flew above the digital earth, she smiled. She was finally somewhat herself again.

"Be careful. Find the tower while I go and look for the others." Jeremy said putting down his microphone. Monsters were approaching Bowe. "Wait, how do I get rid of these things?" She asked, looking at the rest of her body. Jeremy picked up the microphone once again. "Pretend like you're pulling a bow back." Jeremy said, looking at her weapon log. As she did what he said, bow appeared in her hands. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed. As she drew back the string of her bow, an arrow appeared. When she let go of the string that created tension in the bow, the arrow was shot. This arrow shot right through one of the monsters, destroying it.

"Nice shot!" Jeremy exclaimed. She was actually pretty good, he thought. "I still can't reach Aelita!" Jeremy panicked. "Why do we need her?" Bowe asked as she evaded every shot that the hornets shot at her. "She's the only one that can deactivate the tower!" Jeremy screamed as Bowe fell into the tower. As she stepped towards the center of the tower, an invisible force seemed to push her upwards. When she stepped onto another platform that was similar to the one from below, she felt a need to walk forward. A screen appeared in front of her. "Umm, Jeremy?" She said as something surprising came on the screen. As she pressed her hand onto it, the screen appeared to know her.

"RAINBOW DASH." Came across the screen in big, uniform letters; below them was a keyboard. She'd remembered Ulrich saying something about Aelita deactivating towers by putting in a code; but what was that code?!

"She… she's done it!" Jeremy screamed at the screen, his glasses flying off. "Return to the past now." Jeremy smiled.

Jeremy, Aelita, Yumi, Odd, and Bowe were standing in Jeremy's room. "How did we get back here?" Aelita asked looking over her body. "It's amazing!" Jeremy said checking his computer settings. "It's Bowe! She can… she can deactivate towers as well! Now I wonder… can all of you deactivate towers?" Jeremy thought out loud. "Where's Ulrich?" Bowe asked looking around. "Probably still sulking in his room." Yumi suggested, turning to Odd. "I'll go get him." Odd said starting to walk out of the room. Bowe grabbed his shoulder. "Can I go?" She asked, giving Odd puppy-dog eyes. "It's my fault he's sulking." She said looking at her feet.

"What happened?" Ulrich exclaimed. He was now sitting on his bed next to Odd's dog, Kiwi. Odd walked through the door with Bowe. Ulrich stood up as Bowe approached him. She wrapped her arms around him and told him all that had occurred. Ulrich smiled at the new discovery. He looked to Odd next. "So I'm back in?" He smiled. Odd nodded. "Were you ever really out?" The boy snickered, embracing his best friend.


	3. Soccer Try-Outs

Bowe watched in awe as Ulrich gave another swift kick to the ball in the center of the field. "That was awesome!" She exclaimed as he gained another goal over the other team, which was comprised of Nicolas and Herve. Sissy was on the other side of the field, screaming at the two. Odd gave Ulrich a high-five before they returned to the game.

Odd was running the ball across the field to where Ulrich was waiting for him. Bowe had never seen such an amazing game. "Woohoo!" She screamed as Odd passed the ball to Ulrich. Nicolas attempted to kick the ball out from underneath Odd, which in turn tripped him, causing him to tumble across the grass. "Ahh!" He winced in pain. Bowe rushed over to him.

Ulrich and Bowe sat next to him. "Looks like the game's over." He pouted. They were really looking forward to beating Nicolas and Herve by a 30-0 game once again, but it looked like they'd have to settle for 17-0. Bowe had an idea. "Well I've been watching you guys all day, and I think I understand the rules and such." She said, looking to Ulrich. It was his approval that she sought. Odd nodded and turned to Ulrich, who also nodded. Bowe's face lit up. "Awesome!" She screamed.

Bowe stood towards the back of Ulrich. Ulrich had kicked her the ball with confidence. As she ran across the field, it seemed like she was flying. She flew past Herve and Nicolas and kicked the ball through the goal. "Yes!" She exclaimed, looking back at Ulrich with a smile. Ulrich was standing there with a huge smile on his face. "That was amazing, Bowe!" He smiled, giving her a double high five. "You should go to soccer tryouts with me tomorrow! How about it?" Ulrich asked, handing her a flyer. She looked at the flyer carefully. "But it's an all-boys team, isn't it?" Sissy said walking over. "I wouldn't be caught dead on an all-boys team!" She laughed.

"And that's why none of us would be caught dead with you!" Ulrich said pulling Bowe aside. "Listen, it's your choice. If you like playing, why not?" He smiled. She nodded. "I do like playing." She thought out loud. "And we could play on the same team!" Ulrich laughed. Odd stared at the laughing boy. What was up with him? He'd never been so happy about anything in his life.

"Alright, is everyone ready for the toughest tryouts you've ever had to go through?" Jim laughed holding a large brown clipboard. The group was large, but it would slim down by the end of the tryouts. Ulrich approached. He was well known by the rest of the soccer players at Kadic. Following behind him was Bowe, wearing the same uniform as the rest of the boys. The boys almost fell over laughing as she walked over to the group. "Ulrich, is she serious?" One boy laughed. Ulrich's blood began to boil. "As serious as you trying out." He sneered, taking a seat on the bench. Bowe took a seat beside him and looked down towards her feet.

"Don't let them get to you." Ulrich assured. "They won't last through warm-ups." He laughed. Bowe laughed as well. She always laughed at Ulrich's jokes.

"Sentil, on the field." Jim said commanding the girl to shoot several balls into the net. "Very good." He smiled as she made every shot. Ulrich congratulated her as his turn came up. "You did awesome." He whispered as he walked to the center of the field. What followed was the most amazing example of amazingness that Bowe had ever seen. He kicked the soccer balls through the goalie's reach like it was nothing. It came so easy to him. She clapped and smiled as he returned to his spot on the bench beside her.

"What's up with them?" Yumi pouted, sitting next to Odd. He set his crutches to the side and sat down on the bleachers. "Someone's jealous." He snickered. "So what if I am? I'm Ulrich's girlfriend- erm- I mean best friend." She quickly covered up what she had said. Odd laughed. "Yeah, sure!" He snickered.

"Ok, Sentil. Now in order to make it on the team, you have to score against our best player." Jim said pointing to the center of the field. Jim looked at Ulrich. "Well, Stern? Are you going to get up or not?" Jim laughed. Ulrich's eyes widened as he looked at Bowe. There was no way that they were going to go against each other. He wouldn't. He began to open his mouth to protest, but before he could Bowe opened hers. "If that's what it takes to be on this team, then I don't want to be a part of it." She said tearing up. There was no way that she was going to embarrass Ulrich, who happened to love the game of soccer. Even if she didn't embarrass him, she would embarrass herself in the process of trying to not embarrass him! She ran across the field and into the park.

"Bowe!" Ulrich exclaimed as he attempted to follow her. "Not so fast, Stern. Just because she doesn't have what it takes, doesn't mean that you don't." He winked. He wanted to follow his friend, but there was no way that he could make the team if he left now.

"Wow." Odd said, amazed. "Ha! I knew that he would see that she's no good." Yumi smiled. Odd shot her an evil look. "You're mean when you get jealous." He said coldly. She shot him an equally evil look before walking away.

Bowe came across a large rock wall. She had escaped the confinement of the campus and found refuge in the park near the school. Ulrich had taken her here once to show her Aelita's old home, the Hermitage. She climbed to the top of the ledge and fell onto her back. The sun was warm on her face and for a split second, she imagined that she was home, in Ponyville. She heard the voices of her friends around her as she closed her eyes. She smiled at their familiar voices, but when she opened her eyes, she realized that they were no closer to her than they were when she had closed her eyes.

Jeremy and Aelita were trying out a new program from Jeremy's room in the dormitory. "Well?" Aelita asked, looking at Jeremy. "Success! Now any one of the Lyoko warriors can deactivate a tower, not just you!" He exclaimed, showing Aelita the screen. Aelita gave Jeremy a hug before getting up and walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" Jeremy asked, a little surprised that she hadn't told him already. "I have to go tell the others!" She laughed. Jeremy nodded as she left the room.

"Yumi, Odd!" Aelita yelled from across the field. She waved to her friends who were still sitting on the bleachers. They waved back, motioning for her to cross the field to come and sit with them. "It's getting a little cold out here, isn't it?" Aelita asked, bringing her arms together. Odd let out a shiver and looked at Yumi who was also shivering. "Let's get inside." Odd suggested getting up off the bench; Yumi looked at him. "We have to watch Ulrich's tryouts, what if that girl comes back." She snapped, looking at the team who was still practicing on the field.

"Her name is Bowe." Odd snapped back. "And for your information, she's a nice person. You'd like her." Odd added. "But she, she is just so- ugh! She wears so many colors. Do you see how many colors I wear?" She said standing up. "One- black." Odd said scaling up the girl. "Actually, Odd, a common misconception. Black is actually the absence of color." Aelita pointed out, her breath turning white. "Well we're heading inside." Odd added, pulling Aelita towards the door.

Bowe was sitting atop the cliff, shivering. She scooted up to a low tree and brought her legs in for warmth. She looked up at the sky, which had turned a deep grey color. She saw white flakes rain down from the clouds above her. She regretted running away from practice, but Ulrich hadn't even come after her. It was for the best, she thought. She did need some time alone, but it had gotten so cold!

The team had stopped when Jim looked at the temperature gauge on his phone. Ulrich looked around to see if Bowe had come back yet, but he had no luck spotting her brightly colored hair. He looked down at his feet. He should've run after her, but he had no idea what he was going to say.

The hair on his arm stuck straight upwards. It was freezing. Ulrich's breath began to turn the air around him to a humid fog. He fell to his knees. Had he made the right choice, going out to look for Bowe? Or maybe she was already back at the school. He had searched every inch of the park located on the school campus, but had no luck finding her. He only knew of one other place she would be. Ulrich ran along the sidewalk until he came upon the park entrance. He knew this place like the back of his hand. It was, after all, his favorite spot for sulking.

Bowe was huddled up with her legs inside of her oversized hoodie. She regretted so much leaving the school campus, but even if she did attempt to go back, she didn't even have a clue on what way to go. The temperature was below freezing and the snow began to stick over her. Her breaths became shallow and she began to close her eyes.

Yumi, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita had been at the factory for a few minutes before Jeremy pulled up the weather report. A man appeared on the screen in what seemed to be a blizzard. "It's even worse than I thought." Jeremy sighed. "Any sign of Ulrich or Bowe?" Aelita asked looking at Jeremy. "I'm picking up Ulrich's cell phone, but it can't be where he is. It says he's on campus, but we looked everywhere." Jeremy said putting his hands over his eyes. "This is horrible! Get to the scanners. We've got to do something." He said typing more commands into the super computer.

Ulrich had looked everywhere. He was afraid to cry, even without anyone around. What if his tears turned to ice? He didn't want to risk it. As he was walking, he came to a ledge and stopped.

She heard footsteps around her. She hadn't heard anything for a long time. She didn't want to open her eyes, what if it was just her imagination. "Bowe?!" She heard a scream come from a few feet in front of her. She heard it again. The voice echoed throughout her head before she realized who it was. "Ulrich?" She whispered. Her whispers were trapped inside of her mouth which was only partially open. She had no strength to open it. She wasn't used to such cold. She opened her eyes half way to see Ulrich standing on the cliff in front of her. She smiled softly. He had come after her after all.

The boy sighed. He was sure that she would be at the park somewhere. As he began to look around the area around the cliff, he noticed another change in the temperature. He noticed himself sweating and the snow was melting around him at an alarming rate. The sun seemed to beat down on him.

With the heat returning to her body, Bowe opened her eyes suddenly. Ulrich, where was he? She stood up slowly and tried to balance herself. She scaled quickly down the cliff to find Ulrich face down in a puddle of water. She quickly rushed to his side and lifted his head out of the water. His eyes partially opened. "Bowe, but I looked everywhere." He whispered. She nodded. "Yeah, I know." She smiled. "We have to get you into the shade." She said picking him up wedding style. Ulrich looked at her surprisingly. "Yeah, I'm stronger than I look." She giggled.

They had found the activated tower. It was in the ice sector. As they approached the tower, they found that there were no monsters guarding the tower at all. As Aelita approached the tower, the emanating glow that was previously red turned white. Aelita batted her eyelashes and looked upwards. "Jeremy? Is this right?" She said facing upwards towards the sky. "I… what just happened?" He asked reading the newest super scan. "Xana deactivated that tower, and activated another one? It's in the desert sector. I'm sending your vehicles." Jeremy sighed as he entered the vehicle codes.

Bowe was carrying Ulrich on her back towards a covered picnic area. She laid him down on one of the tables and sat down beside him. Sweat beaded off of his face. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "How are you not hot?" He asked barely choking out the words. Bowe blushed. "Well, I used to live in… places where it was really hot." She said quickly. Ulrich nodded and closed his eyes once again. "If anyone asks, you didn't do this." He snickered. She understood why he wouldn't want anyone to know. She respected it. An idea popped into her head, but she quickly dismissed it.

"Jeremy, we're almost at the tower." Yumi said from the overwing. "Great. The temperature is rising. You better get to the tower fast before everyone in the city overcooks." Jeremy said watching the visual. "Great, monsters are actually guarding this one." Odd said jumping off of the overboard. "Laser arrow!" He exclaimed shooting at one of the kankerlats. The monster was destroyed in front of his eyes and he exclaimed once again.

Yumi and Odd took care of most of the monsters while Aelita entered the tower. It was smooth sailing from there.

Ulrich coughed and wheezed once again. Bowe looked at him with worried eyes. "You're going to be ok; they've got to be at the tower." She said wiping the sweat off of his forehead. He let out a small half smile. "You're awesome." He sighed as they were engulfed in a large white light. Bowe smiled.

They were back on the soccer field. "Well, Stern? Are you going to get up or not?" Jim asked peering down at Ulrich. Ulrich looked to Bowe, who nodded.

Jim's mouth dropped lower than his knees. "How is that possible? Ulrich Stern, beat by a girl?" He gasped. The two shook hands and Ulrich pulled her closer and whispered something into her ear. She giggled and walked over to Odd, who was now sitting alone. "How did that happen?" He smirked. "He owed me one." She laughed.


	4. Strawberry Shampoo

It had been a full week since the last Xana attack. Nothing strange had happened, nothing too exciting either. Sissy had been bothering Ulrich as usual, and to his surprise Yumi had stopped talking to him completely. She would much rather spend her time with the William clone, he thought. Something inside of him told him to go after her, while the rest of him just told him to let it go.

It was Saturday now. The group was sitting at the lunch table like they always did, except Yumi wasn't there; this had become the new norm. Bowe often took her seat when she wasn't in her room doing homework. She had decided to come today, which made Ulrich smile.

Jeremy's alert sounded. Aelita shot him a look and then looked at the rest of the group. Odd, Ulrich, and Bowe looked back and forth between each other. Xana was attacking. Finally, Ulrich thought. He hadn't had an excuse to get out of class all week. Then he remembered that it was Saturday anyway and he threw his head on the table. "Let's go then." He said picking his head back up.

Yumi watched the people who were supposed to be her friends leave the room. She looked back at William's clone. "Why don't you go with them, they're your friends." William's clone said. That was the smartest thing that Yumi had ever heard him say. She thought about it for a minute before standing up and heading towards the door.

"Virtualization!" Jeremy exclaimed as he heard the elevator door open on the other side of the lab. With a surprised look, he noticed Yumi walking towards him. He looked away. "So, you decided to show your face. We've been worried." He said looking back at his computer screen. Yumi nodded. "You're going to have to sit this one out." He said looking at the sad Japanese girl.

"Jeremy, we're at the tower." Bowe said stepping into the red tower. Ulrich and Odd followed. Bowe stopped when she noticed the two boys following her. She remembered that the tower had given her real name last time, and wasn't about to let them find out, but she had no idea on how. When the three reached the center of the tower, Bowe began to float upwards while the other two stayed stationary. As Bowe reached the platform where she was to enter the code to deactivate the tower, the tower began to shake around her. Ulrich and Odd fell to their knees as the tower quaked around them.

On the outside of the tower, Aelita's eyes were widening. The tower was gone, as were the monsters that were guarding it. "Jeremy?" She asked.

"I have no idea what happened!" Jeremy exclaimed. Yumi looked at the computer screen. "Of course when I come to apologize for being a jerk something really bad happens!" She screamed hitting her head on the side of the monitor. "I'm not getting any readings at all." Jeremy said as he devirtualized Aelita. "This is bad, this is really bad!" He exclaimed, setting his headset down on the keyboard.

Bowe woke up leaning up against a tree. In a daze, she looked around. To her left, was Odd; he was still knocked out. To her right was Ulrich, too knocked out. As she began to stand up, she knew where she was. "This makes no sense." She said quietly. She knelt down to wake up Odd and Ulrich. "What, where are we?" Ulrich asked as he opened his eyes. Odd had to be slapped in order to wake up. "What?" Odd exclaimed as he jumped up.

The three had been walking through the park before they came across the campus. The sun was setting and they had to return to their rooms. Ulrich told Odd that he would be back shortly, after walking Bowe to her room. When they finally reached her room, she struggled with the door handle. "I don't understand. I only lock the door when I'm in it!" She exclaimed. As she stopped she heard a rustle on the other side of the door. She heard the door unlocking. "Hello?" A deep voice said from the other side of the door.

The boy opened up the door the rest of the way. It was Bowe, in a way. "Excuse me, Ulrich." She said closing the door behind her. "Who are you?" She whispered. "I should ask the same thing of you!" He also whispered. She realized who she was talking too. She ran up and gave a huge hug to the boy, who also had rainbow colored hair. "Rainbow Blitz?" She whispered into his ear. "Dash?" He exclaimed quietly. She pulled apart and nodded, smiling. "What are you doing here?" He asked looking at the girl in front of him. "I don't know, to tell you the truth." She said. "How long have you been here?" She whispered, remembering the boy on the other side of the door. "A couple weeks." He answered. "They call me Blake here, though." He said pointing at the door. "They look just like… well. You get the idea." He said walking towards the door.

Odd was standing there as well, tapping his foot. "There were two girls in my room. And guess who they look exactly like." He giggled. "Let me guess. The both of you?" Bowe said opening the rest of the door which revealed Blake. "This is Blake." She said. The boys waved. "You guys stay here, I'll go get Holly and Rika." Blake said closing the door. The three sat on the single twin bed in the room. "This is weird." Ulrich stated, finally breaking the silence. The two nodded in unison.

As the three returned to Blake's room, the door quickly closed behind them. "What's this about, Blake?" Rika asked, grabbing his hand. Ulrich and Bowe looked at each other for a second, blushed, and quickly looked away. It seemed that their gender bending counterparts hadn't denied what they had been prolonging. "Hey, Ulrich." Odd poked the boy's side. "The girl you is kind of cute." He winked at Rika. Rika's eyes narrowed as she slapped the boy across the face. "Yeah, that's definitely you." Odd said rubbing his cheek.

"We've got to call Janie." Holly said picking up her small purple phone. Her purse began to move when a small cat popped her head out of the open part of the bag. "Go back in there, Nikko." She said pushing the small head back in and zipping up the rest of the purse. The cat meowed before silence fell once again in Blake's room.

Blake put one arm around Rika. "Wait, so he's me and he's her, but she's you and you're her?" She asked pointing at Odd, Holly, Bowe, and Blake. Blake and Bowe nodded. "Weird, how is this possible?" Holly asked putting down her phone. They heard a knock at the door. "Sentil! Open up this door! I know I heard talking in there!" A woman's voice came through the door. The girls sighed and climbed into the large wardrobe, followed by the other three. "This is a lot more squished than I remember it!" Holly said squeezing next to Odd. Odd blushed before remembering that it was just his own double's body against his. Ulrich cringed as someone's body was pushed against his.

"I swear, Jane it was just me." Blake said trying to whisper.

Ulrich couldn't move. His face was smashed into someone's hair. He took a small breath in. All he could smell was the scent of strawberries. He smiled. As the door closed to Blake's room, the group fell out of the closet. Holly and Rika were on the bottom and Bowe was smashed between Ulrich and Rika. Ulrich bit his tongue as his face banged up against Bowe's.

"It was Jane." Blake said leaning up against the door. "Yeah, we noticed." Holly smiled. Rika climbed out from underneath Bowe and Ulrich who were too busy holding their throbbing heads. "We need to find a way home." Ulrich said, climbing off of Bowe. "Right." She added.

There was a shy knock at the door. "That must be Janie." Blake said reaching for the door handle. A blonde girl walked in wearing a long blue robe. She was followed by a small boy with bright pink hair. "Hey, I'm Janie, and this is Andrew, but you can call him Andy. He's a little shy." Janie said as Andrew sat down beside her. She pulled out a light blue computer from her bag. "I don't think that Xana has attacked." She said closing her computer. "But maybe the super scan has something wrong with it." She concluded.

The eight teenagers were on their way to the factory when Ulrich pulled Rika aside. Blake turned to look for Rika, but she motioned for him to keep going.

"How did you… well how did you and Blake start talking?" He asked shyly. "You like her, don't you." She smiled. He nodded. "You see, I used to be just like you. Well, I am still like you- like really like you- but that's beside the point. Basically, when I found out that Yuriko was just toying around with my emotions, I just stopped amusing him. He has his friends and I have mine. Sure, he stopped coming on missions and stuff with us but that's not such a big deal. He always used to talk about me with Holly and she would never tell me. She's my best friend after all." She smiled, leaning against the sewer wall. "I wouldn't." Ulrich snickered. She turned red and leaned back up.

"That still doesn't answer my question." He said looking to his feet. "Listen, guy me, I waited a while for Blake to make a move and he didn't. So I did." She smiled as she started walking in the direction of the factory. Ulrich smiled. He gave some pretty good advice when he was a girl.

"Are you guys ready?" Janie asked from her chair above the scanner room. "Definitely." Andy said as he got into the cabin. That was the first word they'd heard him say all night. "Ok, boys first." Janie said over the speakers. Odd, Ulrich, and Andy were about to get virtualized when Ulrich stepped out of the scanner and walked up to Bowe. "What are you doing?" Her eyes were widened. "Ulrich, get back in the scanner, please." Janie asked. Rika forced her palm into her forehead. "Not now, fool!" She said pushing him back into the scanner. Ulrich sighed as the doors closed. When he finally had the courage to do something, he was stopped. Then something crossed his mind. If Yuriko had been messing with Rika, was Yumi messing with Ulrich?

All of the boys had been virtualized except for Blake. It was the girls' turn. Holly and Rika entered the cabins and gave a thumb up to Blake. He smiled and turned to face Bowe. He didn't say a word before the scanner doors opened once again. "It's good to see you again, Dash." He smiled walking into the cabin.

"Ok, you're all there, right?" Janie spoke into the microphone. "Definitely, Miss. Polgar." Holly smiled. Odd looked at her with a confused look. "She's a chess grandmaster?" She giggled. Odd shrugged and walked over to his overboard. The girls looked just like Ulrich and Odd except in female styled clothes. It was actually quite amusing. Blake was in a similar outfit as Bowe as well. Andy was in a pastel pink jumpsuit that could be compared to Aelita's outfit.

"Umm, Odd?" Holly asked. He nodded and turned to look at her. "That's mine." She giggled. "Well then hop on!" He smiled as he started moving. The girl rolled her eyes and joined Odd on the overboard. Ulrich hopped onto the overbike and was followed by Rika who quickly hopped on behind him. Andy was alone on the overwing. Blake and Bowe of course had wings, so they had no reason to have a vehicle.

The group had looked all over all four sectors on the surface of Lyoko. "No luck, Janie." Andy said stopping his overwing. "Look out!" Blake exclaimed as a dark purple smoke approached. Ulrich hopped off the bike, leaving it to Rika. Odd soon followed. To their surprise, a girl appeared in an all-black jumpsuit. Her skin was pale and her eyes were full of Xana's symbol. Ulrich drew his katana as Odd aimed with his arrows. A shot came from overhead. "Run, you two!" Blake commanded. They followed his orders and ran towards the nearest tower. Blake flew down to the ground to meet them. The two were out of breath as he explained who the girl was.

"Her name's Harley. Xana took control of her a while ago, but I assume you know that already." He joked. They nodded. "Just like William." They both said in unison. Bowe floated beside them. "Maybe if we go into the tower, something will take us back home." Bowe suggested.

As much as they would've liked for that to have worked, it didn't. The three exited the tower to find that the girl was gone. "I'm going to devirtualized all of you." Janie said starting with the three girls. Ulrich felt an absence from his hand. When he looked down, he saw Bowe's devirtualizing hand. He blushed and turned to Odd. He hadn't even noticed.

Ulrich stepped out of the scanner to find Rika standing before her. "You're going to hate me for this." She said pulling his face towards hers. He tried to push her away, but her strength matched his. Bowe turned around to see the two and quickly turned the other direction. Tears formed in her eyes as she turned red before walking away.

Ulrich finally pushed her away and looked at her. "What? I… but you're me and I'm me and… Odd!" He screamed. He had no idea what was going on. Did he just kiss himself? Or was she a completely different person, or was she trying to make it so that he wasn't happy or what… he had no idea what was going on. "What?" Odd walked over to see Rika's arms wrapped around Ulrich. Holly walked over as well and her jaw dropped. "I am so confused by this situation." Odd stated, turning around to not face the situation.

"Where's Bowe?" Ulrich asked looking around. He remembered seeing the faint outline of her curls when he stepped out of the scanner. The elevator started to move upwards and he knew that she'd seen his double kiss him. "Why! Why would you do that?!" He screamed at her as tears formed in his eyes. "Because, sometimes it takes jealousy for someone's true feelings to come out." She whispered, pushing Ulrich near the ladder that led to the scanner room. Ulrich was already climbing them.

Tears ran down her face. Why did she feel like this? She had never felt so bad in her entire life. She heard footsteps behind her so she ducked into another part of the sewer.

"I can't believe that I… well I didn't, but still." He said kicking a stone into the water. "What have I done?" He choked, tears forming in both of his eyes. Bowe stood in a different part of the sewer, but she could hear the echoes of Ulrich's tears hitting the cold concrete. She dried her tears and swallowed her pride.

He heard small footsteps behind him, and he knew who it was. As the steps stopped, he knew that there was someone behind him. "Bowe?" He asked wiping his tears so she wouldn't see. There was no answer. He turned around to see a dark figure standing behind him. He let out a small scream.

She heard it, she knew she did. She was only a few segments down from where Ulrich had been, but he was nowhere to be found. "Ulrich?!" She screamed. She heard loud steps coming from the direction of the school campus. She turned to face the sound of the footsteps and started to run in that direction. "Ulrich?!" She screamed out once again. She slowed down when she didn't hear the sound of running anymore. She heard coughing coming from up ahead, just around the corner.

"Ulrich!" She exclaimed, grabbing up the unconscious boy into her arms. Ulrich's eyes slowly opened and he realized where he was. He wrapped his limp arms around her and squeezed. "Ulrich?" She whispered. "Yeah?" He answered. She looked him in the eyes, tears about to form in hers. "Don't ever do that again, ok." She said hugging him once again. He hugged her back and nodded. He almost didn't want to let go. When he could finally breathe again, he smelled a familiar scent, strawberries.


	5. A Simple Code

The sleeping arrangements weren't planned out very well. Bowe was asleep in Janie's bed as she was working on a new program to reach into the network of a theoretical multiverse. Ulrich was asleep on the floor of Blake's room while he was knocked out in his bed. Odd was sleeping on the floor of Andy's room. Andy was normally quiet, so it was hard for him to sleep with Odd's snoring.

Blake heard a knock at the door. As the door opened, Ulrich screamed out in pain. The door had hit him in the head. "Who's that?" A voice asked. Blake shook Ulrich awake. As he opened his eyes, he saw the face of another boy who was about his age. "Ulrich, this is Evan. He's the…" He was cut off by Ulrich's words. "Principal's son?" He sighed.

He was surprised that they were friends. If this world was anything like the one where he came from, this Evan guy probably had a huge crush on him, well Rika. "Who's he?" Evan repeated. "That's Ulrich." He said pulling the smaller boy off of the floor. This was incredibly strange considering Sissy hated Bowe, so why would Evan be friends with Blake?

"Have you found any trace of them yet, Jeremy?" Aelita asked looking at the super computer. "Not yet, Aelita." He said crunching in more words into the command prompt. "Where's Yumi?" Aelita asked looking around the lab. "She left a while ago. I somehow doubt she's going to be back." He said, waiting for the super computer to respond once again.

"This makes no sense!" Ulrich exclaimed as he walked groggily into the gym with Evan and Blake. Andy met them there. "What is this?" Ulrich asked. "Well, this, Ulrich, it…" He was cut off by another boy appearing. "What happened to not bringing anyone to fight club?" The boy laughed. Something inside Ulrich told him that he knew who he was, and as he walked into the light he knew exactly who he was. "You're Yuriko, right?" He said looking at the tall Japanese boy. He nodded. "Don't tell me he's going to fight in boxers." The boy laughed. Andy threw him a pair of shorts and a white shirt. "The locker room is…" Yuriko started. "Yeah I know. It's over there." He said walking over to the locker room.

As Bowe awoke, she stretched and yawned. "What?" She giggled as she saw Janie's face smashed into the keyboard. "Janie?" She said shaking the girl awake. "It's time for breakfast." She giggled. "Go on without me." The girl said groggily. "If you say so." Bowe said walking towards the door. You might want to get change first, she thought. She giggled to herself.

Ulrich was sitting on the bleachers outside by the field. The sun was just about raised. He had been watching it since the first slight sliver appeared on the horizon. He enjoyed seeing the different hues that the sun gave off when it raised itself from the earth. It reminded him of Bowe's hair.

Speaking of Bowe, he thought. He saw her signature curls across the field. He yelled her name. As she turned to look at him, she waved. Ulrich raced to meet her. "Hey, Bowe." He smiled. She smiled as well, but turned away so he wouldn't see her cheeks which were flushed with a rosy pink color. "Hey, cutie." A boy came up and wrapped his arm around the blushing Bowe. She stared at him for a minute, and asked him who he was. He looked back at Ulrich, who was clearly upset.

"The name's Evan." He smiled looking back at Ulrich. "Let him go." Another boy came up behind Ulrich and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I don't care, Yuriko." Ulrich spat, racing to meet back up with Bowe. He took her hand and started walking quickly away from the two boys. "What's wrong?" She asked, seeing the pain in his eyes. He stopped as soon as he saw that the boys weren't following them anymore. He pulled her aside into a vacant hallway.

"Ulrich?" She said, blushing. Ulrich leaned his arm against the wall. Bowe was between the two. He placed the tip of his fingers on her chin and lifted it upwards, lowering his at the same time.

"Ahh! I told you!" Holly squealed quietly. She gave Rika a high five and the two returned to spying on Ulrich and Bowe.

"Ah ha!" Jeremy exclaimed. "I'm picking up their digital signature in the… digital sea? This can't be right." He said once again feeling defeated. "Can you virtualize me at their coordinates?" Yumi asked once again appearing at Jeremy's dorm room door. Jeremy nodded. "I don't know what you'll find there, Yumi." He said solemnly.

Yumi was scared at first, but she had to do something to get her friends back. She needed to talk to Ulrich. She hoped that it wasn't too late for her to tell him the truth. When she was virtualized, she found herself in a large white dome. "Jeremy, do you read me?" She asked waiting for his answer. "For now. I have no idea where that portal leads, but I don't think that we'll be able to communicate on the other side. Do you remember the code I told you?" He asked. Yumi nodded and recited the code. "Great. Are you ready?" Yumi once again nodded and stepped through the portal.

"Yikes!" Yumi exclaimed as the white light dimmed. Ulrich looked to his left, ending the kiss. His eyes widened as he saw Yumi standing there with her arms crossed. "Somehow, I knew that you liked her." She said crossly. "Where's Odd. We need to get out of here." She commanded, pulling his shirt and dragging him away from Bowe who was just standing in the same spot, too speechless to say anything besides a few mumbled words.

"What's up with you, Yumi?" He asked, pulling his shirt out of her hands. "What's up with me? How about you, best friend!" She screamed. "I need to know the truth." He said turning her around. "Truth? You really want to know the truth?" She screamed into his face. Evan walked around the corner to see the two. "And I thought that he was with the Blake look-alike." He snickered. "Wouldn't she like to know?" He said to himself. He turned the corner and started to look for Bowe.

"Hey, Blake's cousin!" He said putting an arm around her. "Oh, it's you." She said looking at the boy with an unsatisfied look. "Oh, sorry. You must've thought I was your darling, Ulrich." He snickered. She blushed. "I saw him with some girl on the other side of the campus headed towards the park. They looked to be so in love!" He laughed opening the door to the lunchroom for Bowe. Her face was hot and her throat began to burn. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"Ulrich!" Blake screamed, seeing that he was with someone he didn't know. "Who's this?" He asked, finally reaching the two. What were they doing in the park? He thought. "Blake, this is Yumi. Yumi Ishiyama." He said flatly. His eyes widened. "Oh." He said looking back at the girl. She gave him a blank stare before giving him a half smile. She turned back around and headed towards the secret passage. "Odd's still at Andy's." Blake added. Yumi stopped. Who were these people? Why did this one look exactly like her worst nightmare?

Andy threw a pillow at the still sleeping Odd. He was awake, finally, he thought. There was a loud knock at the door. Odd jumped up into a fighting stance. "Odd, I know you're in there!" Yumi's voice boomed through the door. Odd winced. It was definitely her. As Andy opened the door slightly, Yumi pushed it all the way open. She grabbed Odd by the collar and started walking out of the room, leaving Andy in shock.

"Yumi, stop!" Ulrich said pulling away. "We've got to get Bowe." He said walking away. "Ha, yeah right." She said pulling his collar once again. "No. We're taking her home with us. She doesn't belong here!" He said solidly. "I told you you're not ready for the truth." She said walking away.

"See, I could've told you he was just playing you." Evan continued to go on and on while talking to Bowe. Her eyes were full of tears that she forced back in, no matter how bad they wanted to escape their emotional prison. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to listen to any more of their lies." Ulrich said removing his hand from her shoulder. On the inside she still hurt, but on the outside she was smiling. "Come on, guys!" Odd said from the door of the cafeteria. They nodded as Bowe got up. "We're going home." Ulrich smiled.

"And how do you expect to get home?" Yumi asked as they were standing in the elevator of the factory. "You mean you don't know how to get us home?" Ulrich snapped. She shook her head. "I know how to get us home." She said looking at Odd and Ulrich. "What about me?" Bowe asked a little confused. Yumi laughed. "Sorry, it might only work on humans." She said boldly. Her eyes widened. Ulrich shot an evil look at Yumi. How dare she say that? He thought. "I'll show you proof when we get back." Yumi snickered.

They were standing in a tower. "Are you ready, guys?" Janie said over the speaker. They all nodded. "I'm going to assume that was a yes." She laughed. "What's the code?" Bowe asked. Yumi pressed her hand against the screen. She put in the simplest code ever. Home.

The tower shook around them and then it stopped. "Do we just, leave?" Ulrich asked walking towards the wall of the tower. "Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Bowe? Is it you?" A voice came from outside of the tower. "Aelita?!" Odd exclaimed, running out of the tower to hug her. "Princess! I've never been so happy to hear your voice!" He laughed. "Thanks, Odd." She smiled.

"Devirtualization." Jeremy said, finishing the devirtualization of Bowe. Yumi's words echoed around inside of her head. How could she not be human? Maybe it was true. Maybe her life as a pony wasn't a lie, and it was actually her life after all. When she stepped out of the scanner, the girl ran to the elevator. Everyone else was already in the lab. She pressed the button to go to the ground floor of the factory.

"Where's Bowe?" Ulrich asked, searching for the girl. "It's good she's not here right now." Yumi said. "Are you ready, Jeremy?" She asked. He nodded. "Ulrich, Odd, you might be a little surprised." He said clicking on a video file. "This is a little girl's cartoon show." Odd laughed. The theme song was now playing. "Ok, it's about colorful ponies, what's this got to do with Bowe?" Ulrich asked staring at Yumi. She paused the video. "Do you see that?" She asked. It was a blue Pegasus pony, similar to the color of Bowe's digital form. She had rainbow hair and red eyes. Odd's mouth dropped; he looked over to Ulrich whose eyes were about to pop out of his head. No, this was just a coincidence, he thought. "Jeremy, tell them what else we found." Yumi snapped, commanding him to click on the next file. "Well, we've done some vocal analysis… they're identical." He said looking at the computer screen.

"No!" Ulrich screamed. "It can't be true. She's, well she's… she's just got to be human." He said punching the floor. "We're sorry Ulrich." Jeremy said as he placed a hand on his shoulder. Ulrich instantly pulled away. He walked into the elevator silently and pressed the button to go to the ground floor of the factory.

The tears have continued to pour down her face. She looked into the water of the sewer. Teardrops made her face look even more deformed. She knew it was true now. She was a pony in a human's body. She wasn't where she was supposed to be. Her friends had made her happy here, but there was no way that this was where she was supposed to be.

His footsteps clapped against the ground as it pushed the water out of the way. Tears were falling from his eyes. Was she just some fake thing, trying to mess with his emotions? How could anyone, anything do this? He heard a scream around the corner. It was Bowe. He stopped himself. Was that even her name?

"Help!" She let out another scream. She hadn't seen who had grabbed her, but she knew that his hands were cold and it seemed that there was no blood flowing through his veins. Tears ran down her cheek as the figure threw her over his shoulder and started to run towards the campus.

He had stopped himself the first time, but there was no way that he could stand there and watch someone, something hurt the girl that he had so many feelings for- even if she wasn't real. He ran down the same sewer path he ran down multiple times, but he had no luck finding Bowe.

"Get your hands off me!" She screamed once again. Darkness surrounded her and she had no idea where she was.

"Is that really how you great an old friend, Rainbow Dash?" A voice came out of the darkness. She fell to the ground as red eyes appeared around her. With a snap a single flame appeared between her and a single set of red eyes. She ground her teeth together to keep from screaming. "That's what I thought. Looks like you lost yourself along the way." The monster snickered. The red eyes appeared behind her and she fell forward. "Who are you? Not a human, we all know that." He said mimicking Yumi's voice.

"No. You're wrong!" She screamed. "Ahh, Rainbow Dash. Why do you say that, when you know that I'm right?" He laughed. "Do you even know who I am?!" She screamed. "Of course, Rainbow Dash. Do you know who I am?" He snickered. "Discord! Stop, ok! Just stop." She said burying her head into her knees. "But do you know who you are?" His voice trailed off.

Arms wrapped themselves around her. She was so surprised, she jumped up. "Who are you?" She screamed. Arms once again wrapped themselves around her. It was a familiar embrace. She buried her face into his chest. "Ulrich, who… what am I… I thought I knew… but I don't know anymore." She cried. He comforted the crying girl and ran his fingers through her curls. "Well, let's start from the beginning. What's your name?" He asked trying to find her face in the darkness. "I don't know…" She began to cry once again.

"Bowe- erm… Rainbow Dash?" He asked. Her head lifted off his chest. She nodded. "Can I be completely honest with you?" He asked, taking her hand. Her face was warm and she was probably blushing, but it was too dark to see. She nodded once again. "Where do I begin…" he started.


End file.
